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Inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist, inventor, and engineer. He was also the co-founder of Telegraph Company and the American telephone in 1885. On March 3, 1847, he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was Alexander Melville Bell, and his mother was Eliza Grace Symonds.
Unfortunately, his mother was almost deaf, and his father used to teach the deaf. This was the primary reason that influenced Graham to become a teacher of the deaf later in his career. His wife was also deaf; maybe all these reasons influenced his life's work.
His Life
His father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, and his mother was Eliza Grace Bell. He had two brothers, but both of them died because of tuberculosis. His name was Alexander Bell when he was born, so at the age of 10, he requested his father to add the middle name 'Graham' to his name. Therefore, on his 11th birthday, his father gifted him his middle name, Graham. His friends and relatives used to call him "Aleck."
He went to the Royal High School in his hometown when he was 11 but did not like studying the subjects. He quit school when he was 15 without completing his graduation. His family moved to London in 1865, so he gave the entrance exam for the college and cleared it in 1868.
Sadly, he could not complete his studies there because his father had to move to Canada in 1870. This was a bad phase for his family as his brothers died in 1867 and 1870. His family was now living in Ontario, but in 1871 Alexander moved to Boston. When he moved there, he pursued teaching deaf students in various schools.
Career
He loved teaching but wanted to do something more in his life, so along with that, he started his research on sending numerous messages by a single wire. In 1874, his work on the telegraph reached another level, and he experimented with various other devices to be sure of his invention.
A lot of hustle-bustle happened while he was researching, but finally, in March 1875, he invented the acoustic telegraph and went to the patent office to get it registered under his name. He also agreed to share profits he earned from the US with his investors, Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders.
He told his lawyers to get it patented in Britain as well, as he would apply to get it patented in the US only when he gets the approval from Britain. The same day Elisha Gray, who was researching the same plan, also requested for patenting her idea.
This led to confusion about who invented it first and whose name should be there for patenting it. There were allegations on Graham that he paid $100 to Wilber, the patent examiner, and got the approval, but Graham denied these allegations.
He also started working on the telephone invention, and he created his own company in 1877; by 1886, over 150,000 people had started using telephones. They made more improvements and advancements, and finally, they achieved perfection.
FAQs
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How did Graham meet his wife?
He used to teach in the Clarke school, where he met Mabel Hubbard; she was the daughter of the school founder. She was deaf, and he used to teach him, Mabel was ten years younger than him, but love knows no limits. They got married on July 11, 1877.
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How many kids do Alexander and Mabel have?
They had four kids, but two could not survive beyond childhood. So, the remaining were Elsie and Marian.
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When did Alexander start his first experiments with sound?
His father influenced him as he took him to see the first-ever created device called "mechanical man" that simulated a human voice. As soon as he saw this, he was keen to know more about it; he even purchased the book written about it.
He and his brother started working on the project, and their father helped them get anything required to accomplish the project. They achieved it to an extent, and when he was 19, he sent his work to Ellis, his father's friend. He wrote back that he also had the same findings.
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When did he make his first call from the telephone?
It was from the telegraph office in Brantford on August 3, 1876, when he tried making the call to the village of Mount Pleasant, which was four miles away from his office. The people there could hear him, and he could also hear some faint voices. He got motivated and expedited the process and called eight miles away from his location, and it became successful.
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When did Graham die?
He died on August 2, 1922, because of the problems arising from diabetes at the age of 75.
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